The project was inspired by Arvo Pärt’s words in his “Musical Diaries”, which can be heard on headphones in the installation.

The multi-sensory installation features a transparent curved screen, made from coloured Perspex acrylic, which represents the prism and divided colours in Pärt’s poetic description, alongside a leather viewing and listening bench where visitors can sit or lie back to experience the composer’s words and music.

The bench is shaped like a cello or a violin, while the screen evokes a harp.

The four tracks of music, recorded by ECM Records, were chosen by Clare Farrow with Arvo Pärt to evoke reflections, memories and thoughts.

Ed Elbourne, who specialises in lighting design at Arup, said: “I hope that the stillness and timelessness inherent in Pärt’s pieces and in the lighting installation provides visitors with an interesting experience alongside the memories soaked into the walls at Belsay Hall.”

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Clare Farrow said: “I am delighted to be reimagining Memory & Light for Belsay Hall, and am looking forward to experiencing the beauty of Arvo Pärt’s music and Arup’s design in the wood-panelled library, which is imbued with memories and history.

“The interaction between the past and the present will be extraordinarily moving there, I think. The combination of geometry and nature at Belsay Hall also strikes a chord with Pärt’s music.”

Struggling to write and perform under Soviet rule during the 1960 and ‘70s, Part was urged to leave for Vienna in 1980, and then Berlin. In 2010, he returned to live in Estonia to create the Arvo Pärt Centre, which opened in October last year in the middle of a pine forest outside Tallinn, close to the sea.

Belsay Hall has been the inspiration for new works by designer Thomas Heatherwick, Lord Foster, Paul Smith, Stella McCartney, singer Anthony Hegarty and in 2018, Turner Prize winner Susan Philipsz.

“Its quiet interior, faded with the traces of former inhabitants, provide a rich foundation upon which to install and create beautiful pieces like Memory & Light,” said an English Heritage spokeswoman.

Memory & Light runs until early January 2020.

* There will be more light, colour and sound when Belsay’s Enchanted offering transforms the grounds into an illuminated world from December 5-22. Tickets can be booked online at www.english-heritage.org.uk